Faith Matters Educational Resources

This interview is about a famous nun and activist against the death penalty, Sr. Helen Prejean, whose life was featured in the film DeadMan Walking. Among other things, this interview explores reasons for and against the death penalty, which is legal in several states in the U.S. What do you think of the death penalty, before watching it?

This interview will explore the place of women in contemporary Islam. As Dr. Gaillardetz will say in the interview, women’s issues arise not just in Islam but in all the great religions, since historically women have been “among the most steadfast of practitioners” yet ironically have “suffered abuse and even oppression within their traditions simply because of their gender.” Can you think of examples of abuse, oppression or lower status of women within a religious tradition(s) familiar to you?

1. Miller emphasizes just how ingrained these consumer habits are in our lives when he says he made 50 consumer choices before he left his house one morning. How many do you think you've made in the last few hours?

2. According to Miller, with all this practice, we end up applying these consumer habits not just to traditional consumer goods but also to other spheres of life, such as online dating, politics, and religion. We shop for a date, a political party, and a religion in the same way that we shop for groceries. Can you give examples of how we might apply consumer habits such as (a) – (c) above to dating, politics and religion? So do you agree with this first claim?